“Our way of life resembled the one advocated by Sylvester Graham, the abstemious Presbyterian minister who invented graham crackers: 'hard mattresses, open bedroom windows, chastity, cold showers, loose clothing, pure water and vigorous exercise' ”
- Tad Friend, Cheerful Money
9 comments:
Tad Friend's book is adorable. Everyone should read it!
Except for that silly business about chastity and cold showers, I couldn't agree more.
I adore Cheerful Money! I remember Tweeting about it when it first came out and he Tweeted back to me! I just about ad a giggle fit
A favorite quote is the one about family grievances being like underground coal fires -- 'hard to detect and nearly impossible to extinguish.'
Regards,
Bitsy
Suit yourself, madam. ; )
My favorite quote is:
"The real difference between Preppies and Wasps is not couture but outlook. Preppies are infantile and optimistic, forever stuck at age seventeen; Wasps emerge from the womb wrinkly and cautious, already vice-presidents, already fifty-two."
BTW, check out The Starboard Sea, new boarding school/sailing novel just out--sounds really good!
@Greenfield - I totally agree - that is a marvelous quote! And thank you also for the book recommendation, which I will definitely check out.
Tad's our poet, for sure. My dad went to school with his dad - it was a small world back then. When the book came out, I left Tad a voicemail at his New Yorker number. Polite person that he is, he got back in touch with me. Thanked me for the review I eventually posted. He seems to uphold all the code of conduct that we hope sticks around. He also says, WASPs speak in the subjunctive. So right.
I really enjoyed reading "Cheerful Money" this winter. A great wasp memoir, right up there with "The Big House" by George Howe Colt.
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